Summary

“A Man’s Role”

Eddy reflects that men in the village would never describe themselves as violent because their behavior is “natural, self-evident” (29). Eddy relates how his father, when drunk, punches the wall because he never allows himself to punch his children and wife like his father had done. Eddy’s big brother is violent and known to beat his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Eddy’s oldest sister moves in with someone whom the family discovers has been beating her.

One day, Eddy’s younger brother, Rudy, goes missing. When he turns up, Eddy’s older brother Vincent begins picking a fight with the family. Vincent says that Eddy’s mother and father are raising the youngest kids too soft. When Vincent then turns on Eddy, his mother rushes in to...